Friday’s Primer

RIley LaChance will lead Vandy up against Florida tonight as a six-point underdog at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Published on Friday, 3/10/17, at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.

My Arizona-UCLA preview filed to VegasInsider.com early this morning.

–Georgia is a 10.5-point underdog for today’s 1:00 p.m. Eastern tip against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. UGA advanced Thursday with a 59-57 win over Tennessee as a 1.5-point favorite. Yante Maten returned to the lineup for the first time since spraining his knee on Feb. 18, scoring 12 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots in 26 minutes of playing time. J.J. Frazier scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out four assists. In the last six games, Frazier has scored 36, 28, 29, 31, 24 and 17 points. The Bulldogs took the cash in both regular-season meetings against UK, losing outright heartbreakers in both spots, including an OT loss at Rupp Arena.

–Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com has UGA as a part of his ‘Next Four Out’ behind his ‘First Four Out’ that include Rhode Island, Illinois St., California and Houston.

–Vandy has covered the spread in seven straight games after smashing Texas A&M by a 66-41 count last night. The Commodores are 6.5-point underdogs against Florida for tonight’s 7:00 p.m. Eastern tip on the SEC Network.

–After going 4-2 yesterday, I have six picks locked and loaded for today.

–After losing its last seven regular-season games while going 0-6-1 ATS, TCU fell out of the bubble conversation. However, Jamie Dixon’s team is making noise at the Big 12 Tournament. The Horned Frogs blew out Oklahoma two nights ago before shocking Josh Jackson-less Kansas yesterday at Sprint Center in Kansas City. They are currently in Lunardi’s ‘Next Four Out’ going into tonight’s game against Iowa St.

–Speaking of the Cyclones, they’re on fire. Iowa St., which is a four-point favorite vs. TCU, has won eight of its last 10 games while going 7-3 ATS. Steve Prohm’s team beat red-hot Oklahoma St. 92-83 as a 1.5-point underdog Thursday. Monte Morris nearly had a triple-double, tallying 21 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Deonte Burton added 17 points and 10 boards to counter the game-high 29 points scored by OSU’s Jawun Evans.

–The ‘over’ has hit in seven straight games for Iowa St. and is 14-4 since Jan. 7. The total for ISU-TCU tonight is 146.

–I love how Iowa St.’s Matt Thomas is shooting the 3-ball right now.

–Here are the updated odds to win the SEC Tournament:

Kentucky -120 (risk $120 to win $100)
Florida +160 (risk $100 to win $160)
South Carolina 5/1
Arkansas 18/1
Vandy 17/1
Alabama 20/1
Georgia 25/1
Ole Miss 25/1

–Two potential candidates to replace Johnny Jones who have ties to LSU: Middle Tennessee’s Kermit Davis and Nevada’s Eric Mussleman. Davis was John Brady’s top assistant at LSU from 1997-2002. Mussleman was Jones’s top aid in 2014-2015.

–Not that he would say anything different while Indiana is still alive in the Big Ten Tournament, but Tom Crean denied having any interest in the Missouri job. Yahoo’s Pat Forde reported that Crean to Mizzou could be a possibility if Crean and IU get a divorce.

–My new ‘Games Galore’ pod dropped for the first time this week. Check it out here if you wish.

–Today’s primer is sponsored by…Cameron Rorisson!

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